From the classroom: Christianity in perspective

Saturday

May 17, 2014 at 5:30 PM

Editor’s note: Ryan Maloney teaches Senior English at Winnebago High School. As a part of his students’ final essay, they were required to write persuasive letters to a specific audience. Here are three letters Maloney shared with the Rockford Register Star.
Christianity in perspective

While some non-Christians understand the Christian viewpoint and faith, a lot of people have the wrong look at Christianity and God.

God isn’t just the “big guy in the sky.” Even when people, including Christians themselves, realize that there’s more to it than that, they don’t see God in the way they should. People see him more as an almighty being to be feared, and someone to obey with no leeway whatsoever. But in reality that’s Old Testament, before Jesus; now we see him as our father — which means we should fear him only a little.

He’s our dad, so it’s natural to fear him just a bit. He’s also our friend, confidant, protector and many other things; we can’t just classify him as a being to be feared and obeyed. John 3:16-17 states that, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life ... For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him […]”.

When people hear this scripture, they have the wrong look about God, and they say “why would God, this all powerful being, give his only kid to a bunch of sinners?” He gave Jesus to us so we could join our brother and father in heaven; he wanted us, his Children, to be there with himn not stuck behind some pearly white gates.